Endearment
by DeathByShyKid
Summary: Kakashi missed his boyfriend, Naruto. With the military-bound man gone for the next three years several seas away, the man dreams of a place where the two can be together always as he remembers the messages they'd sent to each other over time. Their love and affection continue to linger even in a dream-world where Naruto wasn't there but Kakashi still loves him.


Kakashi hummed to himself, lazily lounging against the grass just below him. He watched the clouds with a thoughtful eye, using his only visible eye to bounce between the clouds. The man grinned beneath the mask, a soft smile that spread slowly throughout his features.

The vibration from the man's phone startled him for only a moment, the thrum of it against his thigh becoming known. Kakashi pulled it out with a bored expression, tapping his only thumb to the fingerprint detector. Swiping over to his only messaging app that could be used without the internet, he found that couldn't hide the wide grin from crossing his face: _"Hey, I just wanted to take the time to tell you that I love you to the edge of the universe and back!"_

At first, the white-haired man sat there with a dumb grin on his face, not sure what to type back to the young man on the other side. After a few more seconds of thought, nimble fingers thrum over the keys in a quick response. Now more aware of his surroundings, Kakashi can't stop his dark eyes from drifting. Around him was a nostalgic breeze flittering through the air, warm and melodic but warm to the touch.

The world above him was starting to darken, allowing for the sky to take on some rather interesting colors – pinks, purples, the stray orange or red here and there – ones that fit together rather nicely. Kakashi feels the presence beside him, knowing instantly who was there without glancing over at who it was. He can't help the smile from spreading across his features - he'd never felt this way about someone. However, both he and his boyfriend have never gotten the chance to experience something as amazing as this.

But here, in this world Kakashi imagined for them - in this wonderful world hidden among the dreams playing through his mind tonight - he can finally imagine them being together rather than being separated by a screen.

Another vibration sounds off but the man is too caught up in the ever-changing colors of the sky and the warm palm pressing against my hand to read the message. Though, for some odd reason, Kakashi knows exactly what the message says without having ever looked at it: _"We have gone through so much together, and I wouldn't change any of it. I would never change what we have for anything in the world. And I may worry too much about you, but I couldn't ask for a better person to worry about."_

" _Words cannot even begin to describe how much I love you and how much I cherish our relationship."_ A second text message soon follows the first and the white-haired man finally takes the chance to read each slowly, an easy smile creeping onto his face; the message is full of warmth and love, all from several seas away.

It is a simple text he finds himself sending the other man back: _"There is no one better to have by my side than you. You are my best friend, my dorky hero and sidekick combined, you are my inspiration, you are the light when things get dark, and you, of course, are my great and fabulous boyfriend."_

With the phone in hand, Kakashi looks to his right, staring at the blond-haired man with such endearment in his stormy eyes, a soft smile pulling at his features. His boyfriend - a golden ray of sunshine named Naruto - doesn't sense his stare, instead being too busy with the sky and the birds cawing in the distance. He's not mad - couldn't blame the other man as the sky is very pretty. However, it's okay that Naruto's not looking, it does means that Kakashi got more time to stare at him. There is so much love blooming in the man's chest at this moment as he takes in the blond's look, in awe at his rather calm features.

Kakashi knows the message is there well before the vibration ever sounds off in his hand: _"I love every bit of you. Every bit of your personality. The way your face turns red when you laugh a lot. The little dances you'll randomly start doing. The color of your beautiful eyes. The warm feelings I get when I hug you. All of it. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend."_

The older man tears his eyes away from Naruto to read it, feeling the fluttering in his stomach. _"I love all of your imperfection and everything that makes you, well, you! I cannot stress how thankful I am to have you in my life. I know I talk too much and I'm weird but I am glad that you accept everything about me."_ He finds himself typing back so quickly that he's nearly positive that his fingers might fall off with the vigorous movements. Kakashi can hear the vibration besides him, knowing that his boyfriend must be reading the text as quickly as humanly possible. And after another moment in time, the white-haired man sends Naruto another: _"We are the craziest, sweetest, funniest, greatest, #1 couple!"_

Kakashi grins to himself, leaning back in the grass. He's never felt like this with anyone; never in his life has there ever been a person he loved more than anything in this world. And the man sighs like his poor breath has been taken away like he's too breathless to think. Naruto hears him, of course, he always does.

Beautiful sky-blue eyes blink once - dueling with the sky for the most beautiful thing out there in the world - before he turns to the older man. There is a nervous smile spreading across Naruto's face as if there is something he's dying to ask. Instead, the corners of his perky mouth twitch, almost like he going to laugh at his boyfriend; it makes Kakashi want to roll his eyes. Instead, the younger of the two twists his body so that it faces the white-haired man. "What?" A semi-thick eyebrow raises in curiosity, grinning like a fool.

"Nothing." Kakashi murmurs, continuing to stare unashamed, thinking back to the messages he could have sent to him then – what he did send Naruto all those years ago: _"What I really wanted to tell you is that everything I say passionately to you is true. I am in love with you. I've been meaning to tell you that. I don't just love you, I'm completely and utterly in love with you. And don't you forget it, babe."_

"C'mon." Naruto starts and the older of the two can already tell where this is headed, having already had a similar conversation not too long ago, "Didn't we already establish that nothing usually means _something_."

Holding back a snort, the Hatake man rolls his one eye showing, "Yeah, yeah, I guess you've caught me."

The blond-haired man tilts his head, a hand coming to wave for an explanation, "Well?"

"I was just staring, you know." A simple shrug is all the other gets, an answer that won't satisfy the blond for long. There is a message Kakashi finds that he wants to send his way, knowing that Naruto would read it in a split second, one so similar to what transpired long ago: _"I gave you my heart because of that special love I feel for you. It is a love that comes from an undying friendship. It is a love that wishes to prove everyone wrong. It is a love that slows us down when one of us falls behind. It is a love that keeps on growing. It is a love that will last. It is a love that we can laugh and smile at because it's ours. It's our creation; our love. Nothing to be broken. Neither to be forgotten. Only loved."_

"I could tell." There was a mirth in Naruto's eyes as he leans forward, hands pressed against his chin as his tan elbows dug into the grass, "What else?"

Fiddling with his mask, Kakashi glanced away for a second or two, "Thinking." He can remember the beginning of their relationship, that one line in that not-so-subtle text message: _"All the thoughts that are in my head, how easy it is for me to forget that there is a world out there when I think about you. You are a sunshine portal at the end of a gray tunnel, full of life and full of color. I love that about you."_

Naruto, suddenly curious, sits up completely then, blinking in interest, "About what?" He'd always been curious as to what the man across several seas was thinking about on the daily. All that distance created a curiosity so unlike either of them.

" _All that time, when I tell you that I love you, there is always a deeper, more meaningful thought behind it."_ Kakashi had texted this to his boyfriend one night, stomach fluttering from a sudden bout of butterflies. He looked to the blond-haired man, almost forgetting the question being asked of him, "I was thinking about how much I love you." The words were spoken so quietly, it must have been hard for the younger of the two to hear. However, Naruto showed no signs of confusion so he took it as a good sign.

"What a coincidence because I was thinking the same about you." This Dream-Naruto, the one Kakashi's conjured for while he was away, gives a wild smile his way and it could have stolen his breath away then. This time around, the white-haired man finds that he has some more control over his lungs and replaces it with a snort, something that just lightens Naruto's features and brightens his already beautiful eyes.

Kakashi's disgusting laughs always seem to bring the other man so much happiness; he's still not sure why.

"What else?" At his confused stare, Naruto continues, waving a hand for emphasis, "What else were you thinking about?"

He can feel the warm smile tugging at his lips once more, "How I fell in love with you." The blond blinks in surprise - an owlish look on his face - and stares into his boyfriend's soul with those piercing blue eyes of his. Fingers fly across the keyboard on his phone: _"I don't just love you. I'm in love with you."_

"Well, that's a new one." Naruto murmurs but wasn't all that phased by his words.

"How so?"

A shrug, "You've told me before that you're in love with me but never _how_ you came to that point."

"Well, it's nothing grand, kind of sappy though." He states with a shyness he never knew still existed somewhere in the depths of the man's heart; Kakashi thought he'd outgrown that long ago. He finds himself wanting to text the other: _"I am in love with you. There is no other way to put it. I've fallen head over heels on the concrete of life and you just so happened to be there to catch me when I fell. I can't say it enough except that I am really in love with you."_ His body is frozen in this time, breathless anytime the white-haired man glances his boyfriend's way. Kakashi finds that he could keep looking at those beautiful sky-blue eyes forever, those eyes that glowed with such excitement and anticipation at his words. "You're amazing." Kakashi voices softly, mind not catching up with his heart.

Naruto smiles, eyes narrowed with such love directed his way. He finds that he feels small and incredibly vulnerable in those lovable eyes but it's not bad in the slightest, reminds Kakashi that he's allowed to feel this way around someone, especially someone that he loves. It makes his stomach churn with butterflies igniting the flames in his heart and Kakashi can _feel_ the heat burning in his cheeks. "I love you too, Mi Amor," Naruto whispers and it is one of the best sounds Kakashi has ever heard.

And that nickname, _Mi Amor… My Love._

Kakashi takes a small breath, remembering the first time his boyfriend had to leave for work. Naruto was gone for a month to help Spain during a disaster - the military needed him specifically during that time - and the white-haired man worried for far too long. He sat there, late at night, wondering if his boyfriend would be alright or if he'd gotten hurt on the job. However, he needn't worry about Naruto was fine and even came back learning a bit of Spanish from the locals _. Mi Amor_ became a favorite, a nickname that brought a blush to Kakashi's face and a stop to his heart. Naruto refused to stop calling the other man by any other nickname besides _Mi Amor_.

The white-haired man finds himself holding his scratched-up phone to his covered face again, looking younger and with more life in his dark eyes: " _You are the greatest thing that had ever stumbled into my life. You are never mean to me and you could never disappoint me. I trust you with everything and anything. We can tell each other about everything – and I'm pretty sure we know almost everything about each other. You are extremely handsome and I love everything about you. Your personality, your eyes, your words, that mouth that I'd like to kiss one day, your sense of style, your height, your hair, your skin tone, your body, your heart, your love, everything."_ It was a bold text at the time but he knew Naruto would appreciate the thought behind it.

"I guess I should tell you the story then." Kakashi shrugs, trying not to show how much his boyfriend is affecting him, making him feel like he's twelve again… like he still has hope for love at first sight.

" _You are the light that was missing in my life before I knew you, and every day you seem to get even brighter and more beautiful."_ Naruto texts back, grinning like a fool at his white-haired boyfriend again. His cheeks are starting to darken from such endearment for the older man, red tinting his ever-tan ears; Kakashi loves when they do that. He can't help but shake his head and chuckle, watching as Naruto's hands clasp underneath his chin like a lovestruck idiot, "I love when you talk."

Kakashi tries to hide the grin wanting to bloom on his face, covering it with an eye roll instead. "While I had a crush on you two months before we started dating and loved you only three months after that, I…" He can _feel_ the blush creeping up on his face and Kakashi just _knows_ that the younger of the two is going to comment on it because Naruto always loved when his boyfriend's face did that, "I figured that I was in love with you two years after we started dating."

"Two years?" The blond-haired man blinks, almost as if surprised, "Wow, I was in love with you from the beginning."

The sudden blush is tickling the sides of his face and that large, goofy smile is blooming on Naruto's face at that moment. He opens his mouth to say something but Kakashi is too quick to the draw. "Stop it!" The older man chuckles, looking away then, red still creeping into his cheeks, "Don't say _anything_."

The man's pleas towards his blond-haired boyfriend do nothing to stop your flattery, never truly reaching his ears because Naruto simply can't stop the _"_ I think you're really handsome when you blush" comment from coming Kakashi's way.

The Hatake man huffs as if annoyed but he is anything but that. He thinks it's truly amazing when Naruto gives him a compliment because Kakashi could be self-conscious at times. He smiles lovingly then, remembering everything this man had done for him in the past.

Naruto had never failed to surprise his boyfriend with what he found appealing about Kakashi, whether it be his dark and dull eyes or his surprise dress-ups - walking around in a suit of some sort; it always drove the blond-haired man crazy. He loved Kakashi for who he was and the white-haired man couldn't have asked for more. He feels a vibration in his hand once more; another text from his boyfriend: _"Words don't even cover how I feel. I wish we could spend more time together and do cute things together. And I wish I wasn't so damn shy, otherwise, I'd do them anywhere and everywhere because you deserve it! You deserve to be loved and I want to do nothing but that."_

"So, that story?" Naruto asks once more; he's nearly forgotten at this point.

"Well, we weren't really doing anything too grand. It was just us being _us_. We were at my house and it was getting close to ten or eleven. You were spending the night… it was like the first or second time you were doing it and we were pretty young then." There is a nostalgic smile on his boyfriend's face, as if he just _knows_ which story Kakashi is about to tell; Naruto probably does, the two could almost read each other's mind at this point in their relationship, "It was just the two of us and my father in my living room."

"We were just content with laying there, playing on our phones as we cuddled on the couch." Naruto finished the line for his boyfriend, looking so completely captured by the story, _their_ story.

Kakashi nearly burst out laughing at the next part of the memory, "And then Father just got up, said he was going to take a bath and left us alone for almost an hour or two."

The younger of the two laughs instead, nodding to himself, "It was so _weird_! He just got up and left like his son and his boyfriend totally wasn't cuddling on the couch."

"And aren't Navy Dads supposed to be strict with their son's significant other?" He can't help but laugh then, the two of them slapping their knees as if this was the funniest joke in the entire world. There is a warm feeling spreading in Kakashi's chest as he thinks back to every single time they've done this, lost their breaths laughing their asses off. It seems so silly but it's wonderful to the two of them. And as their giggles subside, Kakashi can feel his face taking on a more wholesome feature, "He trusted us to be mature and responsible young adults, left us to our devices."

"Well, he was right in trusting us." Naruto gives him a quirky smirk, pursing his lips in a semi-smile, "We literally didn't do anything besides you poking my side a few times and us playing that Piano Tiles game."

The Hatake man can feel the eye roll a few seconds before it ever happens, a chuckle caught in his throat, "Yeah, yeah."

"But," The blond begin, "you fell in love with me there?"

"Yeah." Kakashi sends a smile his way, not bothering to hide it at this point, "We didn't have to be doing 'couple stuff', we didn't have to speak, didn't have to do anything but just breath in each other's personal space. We were there for each other, being assholes and lovey-dovey to each other. It was amazing to just sit there and just love one another."

"I love you, Mi Amor." He feels his heart fluttering at the words, blinking quickly. There is an easy air between the two of them here in this world that Kakashi imagined for the two of them where he can speak to his boyfriend all day until he is able to see Naruto again out in the real world. _"I love you and I don't think I could love someone more than you."_ The vibration from the man's phone sounds off once more.

Setting it aside, Kakashi smiles brightly, reaching for Naruto's tanned hands, "I love you too, baby."

The two both turn to the sky once more, seeing more stars out since they'd started conversing with one another. They glinted in the couple's presence, the darkness of night lingering just underneath the tree line. They found that they didn't need to carry on a conversation to enjoy what they had between them. Kakashi feels his boyfriend tighten his hold on the older man's hand and he couldn't help but grin like an idiot.

This is all he's wanted for so long, the love he's been hoping for since all those failed relationships.

But then there was Naruto.

Naruto with friendship already in the palm of his tanned hands, just ready to give Kakashi everything he possibly could. With goodness in his heart, the boy who could do no wrong, not in the Hatake's eyes at least. The blond-haired boy who was in love with everything and was adamant about becoming a leader who wanted to help everything, following his dreams to a better life. Him with those sky-blue eyes that always lightened in the summer and darkened during the winter, always different but still the same Naruto. The Uzumaki with those long legs and strong arms, tanned skin as if kissed by the son. Naruto with all the jokes and wisdom beyond his years, with the maturity and responsibility not cast onto any other in our year. The one with the brightest smile and the contagious laughter that always took Kakashi off-guard, getting the two of them in trouble in class because they could _not_ stop laughing.

And then he asked Kakashi out in May, with one of the longest text messages he'd ever had someone send him; he was so flattered.

And it probably still is one of the worst decisions of his life, turning the blond-haired boy down that is. Had Kakashi known that the two of them would have this life together beyond the days in middle school, he would have pushed away anything to be with you then. However, Naruto wasn't mad nor upset, the blond still wanted to be friends… wanted to give Kakashi time and space.

We promised to call each other every day while the blond-haired middle-schooler took that family vacation to Mexico over the summer because we were becoming close friends and Kakashi found that he couldn't see himself _not_ speaking to that boy; it would have been too painful. For ten or fifteen hours a day for nearly a week, the two talked and talked and _talked_ about everything or nothing at all, it depended on what was happening that day. They messaged any chance the two could get and it was _amazing_. Naruto's laugh ringing over the horrible speaker or those late-night calls when the two of them had to be really quiet because his adoptive father was sleeping in their shared hotel room. Those inside jokes Kakashi and Naruto made, ones that he's not even sure he remembers anymore – it's been a long time – or just anything that could get a laugh out of them.

And when Kakashi finally took the time to ask him out in June one late night – after realizing that this fire between them was something only people beyond friendship got – the white-haired kid then was so scared that Naruto would say no; he didn't, of course, because look at them now.

Forever is a _long_ time to love someone, especially in the eyes of everyone else. So far, both Naruto and Kakashi had out-loved each other longer than anyone else has in their old high school… probably in the history of relationships at that school and maybe even Naruto's military ranks or Kakashi's college classes.

" _I don't care what those idiots say. 'It won't last' or 'You'll never make it past high school'. I'm determined to love you as long as possible. Through thick and thin."_

The two both get asked countless of times:

"How are you both _still_ together?"

"What's it like to be a long-lasting relationship?"

"How'd you both do it? What's the secret?"

It sometimes got annoying after a while, at all the questions coming the couple's way. People wanted to know how Naruto and Kakashi had been able to work as a couple despite never having kissed each other after so long together or how they bounced back from arguments or fights. How did they keep things alive in the relationship - since they rarely got to see each other anymore with Naruto always having to leave the country because of his job and Kakashi's college courses? They were seen as the perfect couple – well, at least among their large circle of friends. But that's not why people have such a hard time in relationships.

Kakashi feels the buzz of his phone in the palm of his hand, looking down at the message: _"The reason people fall into the traps of infidelity can only be described as dissatisfaction. What do I mean by that? Instead of cherishing the moments couples – at our age especially – have together, all they do is tolerate. They 'deal with' one another."_ He chuckles quietly; Naruto had always said things a little more eloquently than he could ever hope of doing.

Another message comes through and Kakashi looks at his boyfriend then: " _My point is… I cherish you. I cherish everything about you. I cherish every second that I am with you. If anything, I tolerate the times when I'm not with you. I wouldn't give up what we have for anything in the world. You are the spark that lights my fire in the morning. You are the light that brightens my day. You are the nothing short for amazing, and I won't let anyone else tell you otherwise."_

And he's been mulling over this for a while, but Kakashi can see a life after living with Naruto, full of love and laughs.

" _We're gonna prove them wrong!"_

The two have already talked about getting wedding rings for each other because both Kakashi and Naruto can't see their young lives without the other. Anything without Naruto is like a sunset without colors, it's bland and boring.

" _We've been on such a long road, and I hope that road never ends. I love you, Mi Amor. I always will. To the edge of the universe and back!"_

Kakashi knows most would say that it's a still a little early in their young lives to think of someone with such endearment and love but he just can't help himself; he's always been kind of a sappy person in private.

The message that comes through next is left unread but that's only because the white-haired man already knows what it says: _"People say that at our age, we don't really know what we want. Well, they're wrong. They're wrong because I can say with confidence that I know what I want. Yes, you read that right._ Want _. Because the thing that has been missing all my life before you was, to put it simply… YOU! I guess all I was trying to say is, I love you… to the edge of the universe and back!"_

The two were always far more mature than anyone their age, able to understand that a long-lasting relationship comes with communicating between one another as well as trust. Kakashi looks over to the snoozing blond, "I trust you with everything in my heart and I know that you feel the same." Naruto doesn't respond, instead giving a light smile.

" _There is a bond that we have created, one that was built over time and of love. It can neither be forgotten nor broken by any means. No amount of heartbreak could make me love you less. No amount of heartbreak could make me forget about the times we've shared. No amount of displeasure we feel for each other at any point could make me hate you. No amount of pain will ever make me leave you."_ He wants to send this message to the man beside him, tears pricking his eyes with so much love for one person.

There aren't enough words in his poor fingers that can convey just how much Kakashi loved Naruto. There probably won't ever be enough but the younger man knows wholeheartedly that he's in this for the long run. The white-haired man hopes to see the two of them grow old together with tons of animals littering their house because there will be no way for either of them to turn them down.

Kakashi hums to himself, turning back to the sky, a tear draining out of his eye. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that, yes…" He turns to the Dream-Naruto, a watery smile plastered on his face, "I love you, okay, I'm _in love_ with you."

The Hatake man wakes up slowly that next morning, his dream muddied and nearly forgotten about. He turns over on his side, staring at the empty spot on the bed where a tanned man should be laying there, snoozing away late into the day… or maybe he'd be awake, just watching the rise and fall of Kakashi's chest just until he'd wake up. Kakashi bites his lip, blinking away the tears welling up in his eyes but turns away, leaning over to grab his phone from the nightstand.

 _"I miss you, baby."_ He types slowly, making sure that his spelling is correct. The man gets a sweet text message back, knowing that it was at least eight hours later over wherever Naruto is. After a moment, Kakashi writes out another message:

 _"I love you, so much."_

* * *

 **A/N – Okay, so I don't know if most of you keep up with my life but I have a boyfriend – we've been together for over three years now – and we are both very young. We got together in middle school – we are currently high schoolers – and… this was something I wrote for him for our three-year-anniversary and I felt like I needed to share my love for him in the form of a crack ship. Most of this is from what I wrote to him, but told with 'he', 'them', and Naruto/Kakashi instead of 'I', 'me', or 'you'. It's the most personal and meaningful piece of literature that I've written.**

 **If you could keep any nasty comments to yourself, that'd be amazing.**

 **I chose Kakashi X Naruto as the pairing because, well, my boyfriend and I fit rather closely to these two characters: myself as Kakashi and my boyfriend as Naruto. While I'm not a male, no other female is quite like myself and I've always connected with Kakashi on some other closely-kin level. My boyfriend acts quite like Naruto – except for the aspiration; he wants to be a musician and has already written some beautiful masterpieces. He is a very eccentric, selfless, sweet, and caring kind of guy and I really love him.**

 **We're both so terribly young but I can't imagine my life without him. I rewrote this because my boyfriend is in another country and I won't see him for most of the summer so I've been feeling pretty lonely and nostalgic lately. I miss him, a lot… and love him even more. Sorry for the sappiness, I just can't contain my love for him very much. Thank you for reading and please, tell me what you think or if your relationship is something like this as well.**


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